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WGC ACCENTURE MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIPFebruary 22, 2013Ian PoulterMARANA, ARIZONA DOUG MILNE: Ian Poulter, welcome back, another solid day, this time in the form of a 3 & 1 victory over Bo Van Pelt in the second round of the Accenture Match Play. Just some comments on the match. IAN POULTER: It was always going to be a difficult match playing Bo. I played the type of golf that's going to be tough to beat. I had seven birdies, no bogeys, and when you play like that, then‑‑ and you don't give your opponent anything, then obviously it's going to be a tough day for him. So I'm very pleased how I took some of the mistakes from yesterday away and kept it a very clean card. Q. How much do you look forward to this tournament when the year starts? Do you kind of circle it in your mind because it is match play and you've been so successful here before? IAN POULTER: I wouldn't say I look forward to it any more than I do any of the majors or other WGCs. Obviously my record in match play is pretty good. You come here knowing that if you play six great matches, you're going to be in a really good position. I think it's an opportunity, certainly the way the draw is done, where if you get through a good chunk of matches, then obviously it potentially could be slightly easier to win a match play event than what it might be a stroke play. Q. You looked so confident out there. Seeing as this is basically your first time over here, did you expect to be in this good a shape? IAN POULTER: Yes, I did, just because of the work I had done in those six weeks off. And obviously it was always risky, I guess, from the outside looking in, when someone takes six weeks off and comes into this field, I guess, unprepared is what some people would perceive it to be. I think I'm probably more prepared than I've ever been. The work I've done in the off‑season, the equipment change, changing new shafts in all my irons, knocking out a 5‑wood out of the bag and putting in an extra wedge in the gap that I had, picking up four miles an hour of ball speed on the driver, I couldn't be any happier coming into this week. I even said to Terry on the course today, even when we was 2‑up, the stuff that I'd seen in the first round and after nine holes of today's round, I'm really happy. I mean, I couldn't be any happier how I've struck it, how the ball flight has been, my yardages, the gap difference that there's been in my wedges. If I got beat today, I'd still be walking away today thinking that I've made an improvement from where I was six months ago, and that's good. So I said to Terry, whatever happens from today in, I know we've done some great work in the off‑season and I'm more prepared than I ever have been, so let's just go out and have some fun. Q. I was going to ask you if you had found some extra yards off the tee. What does four miles an hour‑‑ IAN POULTER: Three yards per mile‑an‑hour, so four miles an hour is potentially 10 yards off the tee carry distance farther, which might result in 15 yards. And 15 yards, if I'm closer to a par‑5, is a big difference. It means you can stop the ball that little bit quicker, or long par‑4s you're going in with a club which turns into a scoring club as opposed to a club that probably wasn't. With the shafts making my ball fly a bit higher, as well, so therefore I can get at more pins, as well. I'm really, really happy with the work that we've done, and it's quite exciting for the year. Q. On the 13th there, did you give any consideration to chipping that ball, the long crazy putt through all those humps? IAN POULTER: No, it was left to right, right to left, left to right, right to left, left to right with three stages of uphill in it. I mean, four feet past the pin it goes off the back into the rough. I mean, I would‑‑ I think you'd see more three‑putts than two‑putts in that position. What was the pin, 33 on, something like that? So it was a 100‑foot putt with 12 breaks and uphill, downhill, uphill, uphill, uphill. There's more three‑putts than two‑putts in that position. That's the only mistake I made today. I three‑putted there from 100 feet. Shucks. But in terms of should I have chipped it, no. More guys would have chipped it off the back of the green, and if I chip it and it doesn't get over the ridge, I might have been before Bo Van Pelt was. And I'm a good chipper, so I'm working on my averages there. Q. Do you get a bit stir crazy being isolated out here for a week? IAN POULTER: Isolated? Isolated in a hotel room? We're not in the hotel room long enough to feel isolated. We're at the golf course pretty much all day every day. I get back, I go to the gym, I have a massage, I eat dinner and fall asleep, wake up, come to the golf course. So not isolated in any way, shape or form. It's a workweek for me. And I don't need to go out sightseeing or seeing all the lovely surroundings of Arizona. I'm here to work, get 10 hours' sleep, come out and play good golf. Q. All players are trying to improve their games every year, and there's a certain amount of risk sometimes when you do make changes as we've seen with other players. What gave you the motivation and the confidence to know that these changes would have the results that they've had so far? IAN POULTER: Well, just look at my stats. When you dive into my stats and look at areas that I need to improve and how the golf courses are set up year in, year out, I need to hit it farther to try and stay competitive. I need to hit it higher and stop the ball quicker. So if I continue with the same shafts, then therefore it's just not going to happen, so I need to look at ways to try and get better, get a bit stronger and change my shafts and see a ball flight change, and if it works, it works, great. I mean, it could not not work, put it this way. Especially when you've got six weeks off to dial it in. DOUG MILNE: Ian, congratulations, thanks for your time. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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